Postscript: The truth behind 'The Passion'

March 03, 2004|BY MIKE DUNN, SPORTS EDITOR

The most stunning part of the movie, "The Passion of Christ," isn't the merciless beating Jesus suffers at the hands of the Romans, or the horror of the crucifixion. The most stunning part of the movie are the words of Jesus as he is dying on the cross: "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do."

And that's really the whole point.

"The Passion" is a faithful adaptation of Christ's sufferings from the accounts of the four Gospels. No punches are pulled, literally and figuratively. The images are at once provocative and disturbing, powerfully moving and almost too painful to watch. And that's just the way that producer/director Mel Gibson intended it to be.

To understand the significance of the movie, one must understand the significance of the sacrifice. Without a grasp of the purpose behind the suffering, the movie is just an exposé of Roman cruelty and how an innocent man was unjustly treated 2,000 years ago.

Advertisement

But there is much more to it than that.

I know because of what Jesus has done in my own life. When I cried out to him from an Army barracks at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., in January of 1978, he responded. And he changed me from the inside.

Before that day, my young life was ravaged by the consumption of alcohol. Emptiness and restlessness characterized my existence. I was constantly searching for something and didn't know what it was. Through a series of circumstances that I now perceive as the gracious hand of the Almighty, I came finally to a point of surrender. Twenty-six years ago, I cried out to Jesus. And the only explanation I can find for what has happened in my life from that day to this is that Jesus answered.

St. Augustine wrote, "Our hearts are restless, till they find their rest in Thee." I am living the truth of that testimony.

How does this tie in with the message of the movie?

Jesus suffered and died in my place to secure for me the privilege of divine forgiveness. That's what it's all about. If he didn't suffer and die in the manner that he did, I would have remained separated from God. Jesus did for me what I couldn't do for myself. He took my sins upon himself and died on my behalf. In fact, he died on behalf of all humanity.

That is the purpose for the Scripture verse that appears on the screen just prior to the start of the movie: "He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed" (Isaiah 52:5).

The suffering of Jesus is not an end in itself; it has a much greater purpose. Jesus, the Son of God, died to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind. He died so that we could be forgiven. He died so that all who choose to accept his sacrifice for themselves can be redeemed by the Father and receive the gift of eternal life.

Christianity isn't about a set of rules. It isn't about "religion." It's about a relationship with the living God. One who loved us enough to do for us what we weren't able to do for ourselves.

"The Passion" reveals the depth of that love.

- Mike Dunn is sports editor of the Gaylord Herald Times. You may write him at PO Box 598, Gaylord, MI 49734, or e-mail him at mike@gaylordheraldtimes.com.